The World Swimming Federation on Wednesday announced an open category, starting with the World Swimming Cup in Berlin from October 6 to 8, that will welcome "swimmers of all genders and genders."
The open category would give transgender athletes the opportunity to compete on the elite stage after they were effectively banned from women's events by the Congressional governing body last year.
The open category will include 50- and 100-meter swims across all styles, while the possibility of presenting additional events remains open. Participants in the open category will compete over two days directly from the finals.
To be eligible, swimmers must be affiliated with a national federation and given the flexibility to participate individually, either for the club, national team or as members of the national association.
"When the Swimming Association instituted its policy on eligibility for the men's and women's competition categories, we committed to exploring the creation of an open category," said World Swimming Association President Hussein Al-Musallam, "so a team of experts worked diligently to make this a reality."
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German Swimming Federation vice president Kai Morgenroth welcomed the move to allow transgender athletes to compete. "Berlin is excited to spearhead this groundbreaking initiative with the full support of the German Swimming Federation," said Morgenroth, "We are proud to host an event where swimmers can compete without barriers."
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